Proving the Heart Wrong (Re-write)
by paigenumber
Summary: It's James and Lily's final year at Hogwarts has began and already conflict flickers between them. With The Marauders and Lily's best friend Rosie trying to push her into love, she's definitely trying to prove them wrong. Sometimes fooling your mind is easier than fooling your heart. It's better than the summary makes it sound! Please read. Picture is done by; viria13. Re-write.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note-**

So this is the first chapter of the re-written version of Proving the Heart Wrong. Some things will change and I'm sorry about that but I felt that they needed to be altered. Enjoy.

* * *

Seventh year had crept up fast on James Potter. Over the long months devoted to the summer break, he'd thought that the holidays would never end. With his best friends and fellow Marauder's by his side, summer had gone a lot faster than he would've liked. The four boys had been a constant whirlwind for all the parents who had taken turns keeping the teenagers at their places. Pranks had been pulled, birthday's celebrated and then the owls had arrived. All four of them held in their grasp the usual letters from Hogwarts, carrying their book lists and their grades. The letters were tallied out in each others company and marks eagerly shared. Remus had gotten the highest grades, which he of course wasn't happy with. Then came James and Sirius', both of the boys receiving the _exact _same marks. Peter was only one owl behind the two other boys and was completely and utterly content with the results.

Within two letters were the usual things. Remus was proud to say that he was prefect yet again but was not Head Boy, to his great disappointment. The fact that their best mate was a prefect again tickled the three other boys' mischievous sides. Plans were already taking form, even before the other Marauders' had ripped open their own letters. Then James had opened his to find the usual letter explaining that he was Quidditch captain, exactly the same as last year. This made him extremely happy because there was absolutely nothing more that he adored during their schooling than Quidditch. Well, except Lily Evans but most of the summer had caused the rowdy boy to forget about the girl who was absolutely perfect in his eyes.

Everything was okay until James had noticed the distinct heaviness in the envelope, a heaviness that he was not accustomed to. Yet, he didn't say anything until he was back home and extensively packed behind the closed doors of his bedroom. Inside the envelope, directly at the bottom, was a badge. A fairly shiny badge with gold trimming and a red background caused the large 'H' to stand out.

James knew this badge. He'd seen it on two people's robes every year since he had first started at Hogwarts. It was the Head Boy badge. James Potter had gotten the position of Head Boy and although he had changed, he couldn't help but think that Dumbledore had made some sort of mistake.

Of course, his uncle William and his girlfriend Anna Lee didn't think a mistake was made. Both gushed on that their adopted son absolutely deserved the position.

Adopted son?

Well, during his second year an interesting number of events had come to rise in his life. When I say interesting, I definitely mean horrific and life changing.

James' father, Edward, had been an unspeakable in the department of mysteries for as long as he'd been around. Even his mother never knew what her husband and she'd been threatened with the option of having her memory wiped every time she started to ask too many questions. Of course his mother had stopped. She had two children to raise, James and his adopted sister, Alison. His mother and father had adopted the girl at a young age when they'd found out that Delilah couldn't have any more children.

Anyway, because of something he knew, his father was tortured to the brink of insanity. Even with the secretly, Edward had been the center of the Potter family and when he'd fallen from them, cracks had began to appear.

His mother soon followed in his father's footsteps. When she'd been admitted to St Mungo's because of insanity, people claimed constantly that she'd never been far from there. So, a twelve year old James Potter had lost both his parents in the short time frame of a few months. The worst thing was that he was so young, he didn't really understand the point that his parents were mentally effected.

Every time the small boy visited the hospital as he grew up, he expected to see recognition light up his parents' eyes, smiles to spread across their faces and their arms to be wide and welcoming. But that was never, ever the case.

During his fourth year, James' father had died. In a way, that was closure to the boy. Finally, finality had been served to someone who had been constantly tortured for two long years. But it wasn't all over.

His mother was still plagued by the mental illness and per the healer's suggestion, James visited her weekly. The possibility that she would recognise him, recognise his little sister, spurred the boy on.

That never happened and the children were taken to his father's brother, William. The man had welcomed him and Alison, who was eight at the time of the death, to his home.

Years had passed and now James was a seventh year and Alison was ready to start her first year at Hogwarts. Of course the little girl was scared and of course her big brother wanted nothing more than to comfort the small girl, but there was little that he could do.

The morning of September 1st started out action packed with one teenager, one young girl and two adults running about the house to try desperately to get the prior mentions children out the door and onto the Hogwarts Express.

Breakfast was forced down their own throats, the cat was trampled on many times and everyone kept bumping into each other on the stairs. Short conversations were made before one of both of the party remembered something they'd forgotten and shot away to collect the misplaced object.

Once the trunks were packed and nothing was left behind, William grabbed onto his niece's hand and his girlfriend before giving James a quick look. "You can apparate on your own. Meet us on the platform, okay?"

Before he could even consider the answer or reply, his Uncle apparated, taking the two women with him.

The platform was crowded as usual. Fog hugged the ankles of the people passing by as they waited for the train to set off for the school. Voices rung along the walls, moving about with the fog. The scarlet train gleamed in the smoke, making the place look that much more magical to the seventeen year old.

As he walked among the people, he could see family's and friends interacting easily. Most of the first years looked like they couldn't choose between feeling overwhelmed, scared or excited. He supposed most of them would be feeling a mixture of all three. He scanned the fog again, trying to locate the members of his slightly extended family. They'd of course come by before him. His uncle had loved the fact that James could now apparate and made his seventeen year old nephew practice the skill and his now free use of magic whenever he could.

After taking what seemed like two laps of the platform, he recognised the woman, man and little girl who had been constants in his life for as long as he could remember.

Anna Lee was around 5'8, with a kind face and extremely long legs that she wasn't afraid of showing off. Freckles covered the majority of her body and complimented her long, golden blonde hair and her intelligent blue eyes. Dressed in a simple green dress and a tan over coat, she seemed to be laughing at something his little sister had been saying. And that, led him to looking over at Alison.

The little girl had grown significantly over the years, changed from the small toddler he'd met when he was he was only eight years old.

Alison Potter had beautiful auburn hair. Well, it technically wasn't auburn. Her hair was practically brown and only turned the slightest bit red if the sunlight hit it in just the right way. Warm brown eyes the shape of an almond completed the short girl's image.

And then there was his uncle. Soon after his father's insanity had been revealed and then after his death, James had found it extremely difficult to even look at the man.

His father had just had to have a twin. An identical twin to make it worse. His uncle and James both had the same slightly lanky but muscular build, and they both had the same black hair that usually stuck up at odd angels. He also had the glasses, which James had inherited from his dad. It seemed like glasses had run in the Potter family for years. It felt like James was being stabbed repeatedly for those first few months but he'd learnt to put the thoughts behind him.

"Jamesy!" The little girl screamed in delight upon seeing him, her face alight with excitement. It was an expression that usually coloured Alison's face. In a way, the predicament that had snatched their parent's away only acted as a way to bring the two children closer. He couldn't help but smile at her broadly and chuckled as he easily picked her up and spun her around, being extremely careful not to swing her into anyone's pathway. "Hey Ali! Have you gotten more excited since I last saw you, kiddo?" Alison, or Ali nodded, her eyes flickering all over the platform, taking in the organised chaos of students, trunks, animals and magic. Fog was everywhere and briefly touched everything as if in a thoughtful way.  
"Yep! I can't believe I'm finally going to Hogwarts!" She cast a look at their adopted parents and her big brown eyes watered slightly. As her eyes watered, her lower lip began to tremble as she struggled to regain her composure. James's arms instantly tightened around her, he hadn't wanted Ali to cry, not today. As her big brother, he took it upon himself to make sure that this little girl would have a great train ride to Hogwarts.  
James decided to start small and slowly work his way to bigger goals as they moved on. He'd learned his lesson from setting unrealistic goals during his sixth year.  
"Ali, come on don't cry. You're going to Hogwarts!" Ali smiled weakly as James put her back on her feet and nudged her towards Anna Lee. The natural mother smiled at Alison warmly and pulled her into a loving embrace. When she'd been a lot younger, Anna Lee had realised that she could never have children. Of course that broke her heart but then she'd met Alison and James. In his opinion, there wasn't a woman who deserved to be a mother more than her.  
"Sweetie, you'll have fun! And James will look after you, darling." James nodded at Alison and gave her a warm smile as he ruffled his little sister's hair. Times like this, when they were a family, it made it easy for James to forget all the horrible things going on in their lives. Alison squeaked and jumped away from James's hands, trying to fix her beautiful hair as a whistle echoed around the platform. The whistle which signaled that the train would soon be leaving the platform caused Alison to jump and look around her with wide eyes.  
Sometimes the small girl tended to be a tiny bit skittish, as Rosie would say.  
James and his uncle laughed loudly at Alison's reaction, earning a glare from the women. Did women get lessons on how to send death glares or were they naturally born with the needed skill?  
Both of the boys blanched at the looks and turned on their heels. It seemed much safer to just start to load Alison's trunk and her little tawny owl, Caramel, into the train. James' trunk was settled beside their feet as they tried to settle the trunk in so it didn't fall over.  
As they loaded the trunk James' uncle looked at him, his eyes filled with a deep sadness that James had only seen cloud his uncle's face on rare occasions. "You look just like him, you know." He paused briefly then continued, "You act just like him, James."  
The words were nothing more than a whisper, but the message in them caused James's chest to tighten painfully. Struggling to find his composure, he forced himself to focus on loading Alison's trunk into the train carriage.  
"My brother's boys growing up. Head boy. Quidditch captain. Little Alison is finally going to Hogwarts. Everyone's growing up and showing just how much my brother's missed. James, he'd be so proud of you and Ali, so, so proud. Never forget that okay?"  
Finally, his composure slipped the smallest bit and James's eyes filled with tears. He smiled slightly at his uncle through the tears, glad to see that a glowing pride had replaced the gut wrenching sadness. Even though his uncle wasn't his father, he was as good as to James. His uncle did the best he could, especially when he was still struggling with the horrific death of his identical brother who had always been like a best friend to him.

In the middle of finally sliding the annoying trunk into the train, a flash of bright red hair caught James's attention. His hands moved as if they had a mind of their own and ruffled his hair, giving it a windswept look. Usually this maneuver did more, well for this statement, good than harm, but this time James had the trunk in his hands. The trunk fell to the floor and landed on his foot. He cursed loudly and caught Anna Lee giving him a disapproving look as she covered Alison's ears. He gave her a sheepish smile as his uncle used his wand to load the trunk in. "Sorry Anna Lee."  
Anna Lee smiled at him playfully as she pulled him into a hug. As he was about to pull away, her hand teasingly swiped across the back of his head. "You're meant to be a good influence, James!" Her tone was playful and he didn't notice the tears filling her eyes. "Be good. Take care of Alison! Be a good example! Don't forget you have to go to the prefects..." She trailed off and burst into tears, pulling away from James as she desperately wiped at the tears falling down her rosy cheeks.  
Coming to the rescue, William quickly stepped in and said in a fast tone. "Hurry on now you two. We'll see you at Christmas!" He usheredAlison and James towards the train and then stepped back, one hand resting around Anna Lee's waist lovingly.  
Looking as if she wasn't ready to go yet, Alison hugged them both quickly and gave them a tear filled smile before stepping onto the train. James was only a few steps behind her when he heard someone yell. "Prongsie!" Within seconds, he was yanked into yet another tight hug that constricted the amount of air traveling towards his lungs.  
"Hey Padfoot." James said in a tight, breathless voice as he de-tangled himself from his best mate. He made sure that he'd taken a few steps back before he took in Sirius Black. Sirius looked exactly like he had when James had seen him over summer. His hair was long and shaggy, sitting in exactly the right position and he was as muscular as his best mate, maybe slightly more so. Eyes as pale as fog made girls swoon and then his lopsided smirk always led to constant fangirling from his fans.  
Sirius looked at James with a slight frown, noticing the badge he'd shoved into the pocket of his jeans. He'd even forgotten about the bloody thing and the fact that he hadn't mentioned the position he'd acquired to his friend yet. To add to his surprise, the badge was barely visible but apparently Sirius had X-ray vision. "Head Boy? You're head boy?" Sirius exclaimed in disbelief before his face broke into a large smile. He'd probably recognised all the perks and possibilities that he'd now be entitled too. James nodded warily at Sirius and looked around quickly. "Have you seen Moony? And Wormtail? What about _her_?" James didn't need to elaborate on who _her _was, Sirius instantly knew he meant Lily Evans. Or the illusive, passionate, compelling yet fiery vixen as Sirius had dubbed her over the holidays. The memory of the nickname just caused James to groan loudly. Sirius shook his head, looking a little confused at his friend's random groan and then towed James into their usual compartment where Remus and Peter were sitting. Remus already had his nose buried in a book so he missed the lightning fast look that flashed between Sirius and James. It was a look of mutual agreement that the boys constantly shared in regards to their fellow member of the Marauders.  
Remus's face looked worn and tired, and he looked even skinnier than usual. Large bags shadowed the skin under his brown eyes, which also looked exhausted. His dull brown hair hung into his face, clearly showing that he hadn't groomed it in quite a while. Face pale and his posture slump definitely confirmed their theory. The clothes hung off him and gave the appearance that they were multiple sizes too big. Their mate was always like that about a week before the full moon and it made them feel sympathy.  
Then the pair's eyes fell on Peter. His eyes were the same mud brown colour. They appeared watery and beady, but he was smiling weakly. His sandy blonde hair had grown longer and he looked like he didn't share Remus's problem with his clothes being multiple sizes to big, quite the opposite actually.  
After a little while,James and Sirius flopped down directly opposite Remus and Peter. The exact moment their bodies touched the plaid patterned seat, Remus put down his book and said, "Hey guys. Prongs shouldn't you be in the prefects carriage?" James slapped a hand to his forehead with a groan as he stood up, stretching out his long limbs. It annoyed him quite a bit that he couldn't even joke or relax beside his friends for at least a few moments. As he ruffled his hair he looked at each of his friends in turn. "Can you make sure Alison is okay? I'm probably going to be stuck in a compartment with all those goodie two shoes most of the ride then I'll have to patrol the train so none of the gits do anything stupid…' James waved goodbye to his mates as he stepped out of the compartment. He definitely planned to ditch patrolling duty to muck about with his mates as soon as the stupid meeting had finished.  
As he began to make his way down the hallway when something happened that caused him to grin happily. The illusive Lily Evans had just happened to step out of the compartment two from his current position. The look on her face made him hurry his pace so he could fall into step beside her.  
"Hey Evans, can you believe I'm Head Boy?" As if she'd made up a battle plan in case he talked to her, James noticed that Lily had signaled to one of her friends as soon as he'd opened his mouth. Rosie Hunter, stepped out of the compartment Lily had come from, her eyes rolling at the fact that she'd been called over.

Rosie Hunter had always been a short girl, but she had exceedingly amazing curves. Her hair was a dark auburn and it complimented the freckles that dusted over her nose and cheeks. Eyes that she continuously changed caused people to wonder what their original colour had been. The metamorphosis prone girl always had a way of surprising people. Having been raised on a farm with her eight older brother's, Rosie was the only one in a family of muggles who had developed magic. The slightest hint of an Australian accent hung to her voice. She'd never been able to shake it and had always had it, even though she'd grown up in London from the age of eight.

Walking down the halls you could usually hear someone or other comment on whether or not the Hunter girl was a fabulous snog or shag. If any guy touched her in an inappropriate place you were certain to either get an elbow to the face, or thrown to the floor. And that was just from Rosie. If Sirius was anywhere in the vicinity they'd be dead meat. Then it brought him to the thought of the unique friendship shared by the two teenagers. Rosie Hunter and Sirius were extremely close and had been since they'd met during their first year on the train. He'd been instantly captivated by her ever changing eyes and her history and they'd been friends for years. During third year Sirius had tried to get the extremely gorgeous girl to go out with him to no avail. Rosie wasn't like most of the girls Sirius surrounded himself with. She was a mate through and through, amazing at Quidditch and quick to smile and laugh, but in no way was she interested in Sirius Black. Instead Rosie fended off her continuous stream of admirers and hardly dated. Her favorite pastime lately seemed to be making Sirius go nuts with desire for the girl, although she didn't seem to mean it. If Sirius thought he wanted that girl when she was a third year, he was positively crazy with desire now.  
James had always liked Rosie Hunter, especially since she was trying to get Lily to go out with him, but also because she took most of the attention away from Lily.

Lily's voice snapped him out of his internal babble as she answered his aged question. "No I can't, I still believe that you are trying to fool me into believing it." Lily shook her head and sent a glare back down to Rosie. She'd been gestured over to help her by distracting James, who she just happened to be pretty good friend with, but instead was mucking about beside Sirius. She was standing beside him, laughing their arses off as they watched the proceeding nudged Sirius and loudly exclaimed. "Oh, our babies are growing up!" She then proceeded to pretend to dab at her eyes with her sleeve while Sirius called out. "You two better be good! If we hear you got into any trouble...straight to the naughty corner!"  
James shot a glare at the two idiots and they fist pumped and disappeared back into their separate compartments, their laughter echoing around them in the hallway.  
"Evans, I'm sorry, but I am Head Boy. Get used to it or shut up. It's your choice." James was so sick of her doubting him and being continuously cruel. He'd changed, yet the girl couldn't even admit that. Of course she couldn't. Lily Evans couldn't stand him.  
When he'd found out he'd become Head Boy, he'd first sent his owl to Remus with the news. Moments after that, the werewolf had proceeded to tell him Lily Evans had sent him a letter asking if Remus had gotten Head Boy, as she was Head Girl. When James had heard that she was Head Girl his heart had leapt. He had a chance to prove her wrong, but she was being Lily Evans. She was being bloody stubborn and there was nothing Lily Evans hated more than being wrong. Especially if James was the one who was right in the first place.  
Lily snorted, and turned to face James, her finger coming to poke him in the chest. It took all of his self control not to shove her away and continue off down the hall. "Listen here, Potter. This might be just a big joke to you, but it isn't to me." James looked at her with wide eyes at first before he grew angry, pushing her finger away from him with a little too much force, causing her to stumble away. There was just something about Evans that made his blood absolutely boil. Figuratively. He gently took her wrist to keep her from falling as he said to her in a hard tone. "When are you going to get over the fact that for the last few years, sure I've been a jerk and irresponsible but I did earn this title!?" Lily tried to squirm her wrist out of his grasp but he held on, not holding it too tightly. "When you prove me wrong, Potter." With one more powerful tug she snatched her wrist free from him and stalked off down to the prefects carriage, shooting a few glares over her shoulder at James. James sighed and ran his hand through his hair. It was going to be a bloody long year.


	2. Chapter 2

Just as James had suspected, patrols had been long, boring and just an absolute waste of time. The walks along the corridors seemed endless, especially when he took into consideration the fact that everyone in their compartment was enjoying themselves while he was alone.

Occasionally, he'd pass another one of the prefects and be reminded of the train of thought that had inevitably decided that these people were nerds.

Annoying, unsociable nerds

How he'd ended up with getting Head Boy among all these goody two shoes led him to the conclusion that he, in fact, must be a goody two shoes himself.

Why else would Dumbledore have chosen one of the _known _members of the Marauders? A laugh? Maybe the brilliant man had grown delusional as he aged?

Or maybe, he'd seen potential within James that not even himself knew existed- a small voice inside his head whispered as James' eyes took in compartment after compartment filled with students from all different levels of education and a diversity of houses.

The whole time, the thought of being considered a goody two shoes followed him as he stalked up and down the halls.

This didn't go down well with the seventh year. Registering the thought was like swallowing razor blades and the whole way down they engraved their fall to his stomach down the tissue of his throat.

About an hour into the rounds-he'd had a half an hour sneaky, unauthorised break with his friends halfway through the hour and had been incredibly shitty about having to leave- Rosie Hunter fell into step beside him. In her hand was a box of chocolate frogs that James couldn't help but eye with unsuppressed longing.

Sadly, patrol duty meant no eating on the job. It had been Evans rules and honestly, didn't that girl eat? People grew hungry, it was a fact of life. Apparently not to Lily Evans because she'd strictly decided that the prefects were _not _allowed to eat while patrolling the hallways. The whole centre of the tirade had something to do with crumbs and ants. Big whoop. We're wizards. There's a thing called spells that could easily rid the train of ants. Ants wouldn't even try getting on the train.

As if Rosie could tell- she probably _knew _that he was- that he was eyeing the sweets off, she handed them over with a smile, eyes twinkling.

Upon closer inspection he realised that the box hadn't been opened. He gazed at her in shock and surprise before uttering a hurried and rather loud; "Thank you!"

"Don't mention it. You looked like you needed some cheering up." Rosie said absently, tucking her wand behind her ear as she walked beside James. "I was going to bring Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, you know, because all the different flavours and the faces I pull when I eat them would be a good laugh, but Remus said that chocolate is the key to happiness. Also, he_ was_paying, so I decided to humour him."

A string of incoherent noises came from James in the form of a response as he ripped the packaging of the box open and skilfully had a frog unwrapped and buried deep into his mouth in seconds.

"Good summer?"

"Fantastic. Pranked. Hit on girls. Forgot about Evans." The look on Rosie's face- that half smirk, one eyebrow arched to meet her dark auburn hairline and eyes glimmering with a look that clearly said; "Now, is that the _whole _truth, Potter?"-,made him crumble.

"Fine, not completely. Just…a little bit, you know? I just, it was so easy to try and tell the guys that I had but whenever I was with another girl. I just wished that it was her I was looking at…"

Rosie found herself nodding in agreement as she watched James from the corner of her eye. It was funny. After spending the majority of Summer break with Lily on her family's farm, she'd noticed quite a few things.

Always a wiz with a wand but never with a saddle, Lily Evans wasn't cut out for farm work, but that had always been expected.

Although Lily would never admit it, she was absolutely in love with flying. Qudditch- not so much. Just flying- it was magical to the girl.

Both the girls had spent a majority of the summer flying around the open fields of the farm and through the forest that sat on its borders.

And lastly, Lily Evans definitely did _not _fancy James Potter back. –Insert roll of eyes here.-

The red headed, emerald eyed girl was absolutely smitten but was too stubborn to actually get off her arse and admit that she did have feelings for the boy with the messy hair and mischievous smirk. In a way, it had something to do with pride. Pride was the downfall of so many throughout history and Lily was no exception. It would definitely be her downfall.

After years of rejecting and publicly arguing, fighting and shoving down James' feelings, there was no way Lily could just suddenly admit that she fancied the toerag.

"You should've seen her at the farm. Every time she lifted a hay bale or fed the horses, I'd get a; _bet Potter can't do this this well, right, Ro?" _

If there was one thing that James found absolutely brilliant about Rosie Hunter was her tendency to be blunt in situations where others just…weren't.  
"Oh, did she now?" A smirk had found its way onto his lips as he rapped his knuckles onto a compartment door, sending a group of second years a stern, warning glare as they grew a bit _too _ rowdy.

It was their own fault. If they'd been quieter, he wouldn't have done that. He wouldn't have even noticed if the noise hadn't started to annoy him and distract him from the task at hand. And to add to it even more, the task involved Lily Evans.  
"She did, yes. Sirius visited too." And she was gone.

Typical Hunter behaviour, he couldn't help thinking. Rosie Hunter jumped from subjects like a bee moved from flower to flower in search for nectar.

"Did he, now?" James asked absently, his voice far off as his mind focused on another red headed girl with emerald green irises behind her delicate eyelashes.

Of course he knew Sirius had visited the girl. He also knew for a fact that he'd basically kicked Lily out because he wanted to spend time with his best girl mate. Also, Lily could barely stand Sirius on a good day. Sirius had reported back to James that it was absolutely no trouble getting rid of 'the flower'- they'd decided to act like gits and code their mail in case (t was never going to happen) the ministry started to read their mail. Sirius had even informed James about where she was going and where he could find the girl.

That day hadn't ended well. Lily had dumped her chocolate mint flavoured ice-cream cone over his hair and it had taken the combined efforts of an excessive amount of water and a lot of scrubbing to expel the sugary contents from his head.

Rosie was nodding in response to James' rhetorical question as she inspected her finger nails, a slight smile crossing her lips. "Yeah, he did. It. was great seeing him again. I think his jaw hit the ground when he saw me."  
James' eyes flickered to her, moving up and down in a clinical sort of way. Rosie Hunter was definitely everything that Sirius desired in a girl- curves, a pretty smile, lips that were the perfect shape to kiss and curves- and she _had _gotten prettier over summer. Every passing year showed the way a girl changed into a woman amongst the females at Hogwarts.

Their face shape would change, their bodies, the way they acted and so many more things.

The sun had added slight flickers of gold to Rosie' dark hair, although it could've just been her playing around with her metamorphagus powers as she constantly did.

"I can see why." Was the response he finally decided on. One of his half smirks crossed his lips to accent the reply, as well as a play shove.

They continued like that for a few more minutes before Rosie finally grew tired and moved off to had a nap in their compartment. She did promise however to set up a rotation of his friends so that he wasn't stuck patrolling the boring hallways all on his own.

* * *

James jumped off the train with an exaggerated sigh, his muscles stretching out contently as he breathed in that beautiful Hogwarts air.  
Man, it was good to be back at Hogwarts. Whenever he was away from the school that had been like his home for so long, it was like a hole had been ripped inside his chest and that he'd slowly bleed to death.

Although he felt all that away from the magical castle, he didn't let it show, for Ali's sake at least. Consideration was one of James' specialties. If his little sister had realised how much happier he was away from their family home, she'd be incredibly upset. And so would his uncle and Anna Lee.  
Of course his Uncle William could see right through his fake mask. He'd try to make James feel better, but all he succeeded in doing when James was in one of his melancholy moods was becoming angry with himself, and later sad.

His house would never feel the same to James anymore. He'd never run into the study again on a rainy day, to see his father relaxing in his chair and laughing at aged jokes within the pages of a book.  
James knew he shouldn't complain, he'd known his parents longer than Alison. She'd only been five when his parents had gone off their rockers, and henceforth she barely knew them.  
As he grew up, James had come to realise that when you're young, you barely know your parents. You see a side to them that is purely your parents but as they grow up it turns into more of a friendship.  
Alison would never have that.  
She didn't remember that every Sunday morning their mother would make blueberry pancakes and would watch his father coach James on how to play Quidditch better. She didn't remember that every Christmas his mother would bake the best biscuits ever and that she'd have to guard them like a hound so James and his father wouldn't get to them before they'd cool off.

James was shaken out of the hold of the memories as Rosie lightly slapped his shoulder, gesturing to Ali who was hurrying off to Hagrid and the awaiting first years. Just watching her do that made pride swell in his heart for the small girl that had grown up so wonderfully within a harbour of so many bad things.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye?!" James called as he ran after his sister and picked her up, spinning her around like he had on the train platform.

Alison laughed and wiggled around, trying to get out of her big brother's arms before he potentially embarrassed her for the rest of her life. The opinion of children was so one dimensional, when looked back upon.  
After watching the both of them for a few moments, laughter evident in the set of her mouth, Rosie finally took pity on the wiggling girl and stood in front of James. Her arms crossed over her chest and her head was tilted to the side slightly.  
"James Potter, put down the girl and no one gets hurt." She drew a liquorice wand from her pocket and held it out, pretending she was about to hex him.

James made a big show of putting Alison back on the floor and falling at Rosie's feet. "Oh please. Please don't kill me! I don't want to live! You can't kill me, oh please merciful goddess."

Alison gave them both a mortified look as Rosie began boasting in an exceedingly loud voice about how she could be a knight, while James pretended to kiss her shoes.

"You two are so mean!" Ali said as she lightly punched James's shoulder, gave Rosie a quick hug then ran off to Hagrid's large form. "Bye! See you in the Great Hall!" She yelled over her shoulder, her voice filled with a mix of everything- excitement, fear and hunger.

James winced as Alison tripped and face planted the ground, muttering something along the lines of- "We definitely need to wrap that girl in bubble wrap."- but sighed in relief as a small boy bent down, checked if she was alright then helped her to her feet.

"BE CAREFUL! DON'T FALL OUT OF THE BOATS!" Rosie screamed after Alison and the boy, acting like a mother who was letting her daughter go off alone to her fast day of school.

Rosie waved foolishly before tugging James to his feet and handing him half of the liquorice wand. He gave her a _'thank you'_ head nod as she took his arm and pushed through the large throng of students who were impatiently trying to force their way into a carriage.

After weaving through the students like a pro for a few minutes, they finally arrived at the awaiting carriage that the rest of the Marauder's were leaning against. Rosie and James gave them all small, tired smiles.

Sirius looked up from the map he was studying intensely as Rosie gently patted the head of the thestral set to pull their carriage. A small frown was settled on his face as he looked at her through narrowed eyes.

"Why aren't you taking a carriage up with Evans and the rest of your mates? You really shouldn't take the carriage with us. "

Rosie didn't give Sirius a second glance as she gave the thestral's nose one final pat. "And why can't I?" Sirius had prodded Rosie Hunter in her stubborn side, so what did she do? She moved to climb into the carriage, before Remus, who'd muttered a quick, "Ladies first." Before following her inside and sitting directly opposite her.

Laughing at the look that had moved over Sirius' face, James slid in beside the small girl. Sirius following him as Peter hurried them all along.

The carriages were only built for four people and the fact that there were currently five people occupying this carriage was definitely proving that when a carriage was made for four people, there was no bloody way five people could fit without a bit of discomfort.

* * *

"OK, I have to sit on somebody's lap." Rosie declared as she tried to shove James over as he was currently crushing her against the window. Her words were slightly muffled as all the boys adjusted how they were sitting, and her face was pushed back up against the glass.

After a few more minutes of uncomfortable adjustments and Rosie being shoved against the window a few more times, Sirius finally took pity on her and gently tugged her onto his lap, where she crossed her arms over her chest and lightly rubbed the red mark that was starting to form on her pale cheek.

"This," Rosie grumbled. "Is why I never take the carriage with you four." A small smirk formed on Sirius's face as he looked at the girl on his lap.

"Well, I did ask why you weren't taking the carriage with Evans. I did also warn you not to take the carriage with us! See why you should listen to me, Hunter?' Rosie gave him a quick glare while she pushed her dark auburn hair out of her eyes. Her eyes could never really decide what colour they were, they were constantly changing between blue and green.

"I was not going to listen to Lily complain about how much of a git James is. I had to listen to her while I was in the compartment for the last two minutes, and Merlin, that was enough for me."

She rolled her eyes and laughed, meeting James's eyes briefly before he looked out the window. Sirius laughed and tapped the slightly smudged glass.

"You know how you claim that you'll never snog me, Hunter? Well, the window stole a snog. So why can't I steal one?" Rosie stuck her tongue out and leaned away, nose wrinkled up. After a few more moments, all five of the seventh years broke into a long fit of laughter that didn't end until they were finally at their much awaited destination.

* * *

Once they walked into the Great Hall, Rosie took her usual spot between the Marauders and her usual friends, glancing down at the empty plate in front of her with hungry longing.

James noticed Lily kept glancing at the big red mark on Rosie's cheek every few moments and he bit his lip with worry. He hadn't meant to shove her against the window; she was the smallest and by right should have been sitting right next to the door. He didn't know why he didn't think of that before all of them had tried to cram themselves into the carriage, but if he had, Rosie wouldn't currently have that mark on her face, he was sure of it.

He caught Sirius's eye and knew he felt exactly the same way. James was about to ask Rosie is she was okay when Professor McGonagall called up the little first years. Every student from second year to seventh had their eyes trained on the first years, watching their every move with a clinical intensity.

Each house had their own reason of doing this, James thought;

Slytherins watched to see who they would have the honour of bullying over the next few years. They also paid particular attention to the names of the students in case there was a muggleborn in their midst.

James really didn't understand why they hated Muggleborns so much. Rosie and Lily were Muggleborn, and they were two of the smartest girls he'd ever met. Also the prettiest. It might've had something to do with the fact that they weren't practically inbred like all purebloods.

Ravenclaw looked to see who would grow up to be smarter than them. When you're at the top, you don't ever want to fall back to second position. The ravens were incredibly jealous people when it came to academic brilliance.

Hufflepuff looked out of pure curiosity, it was a known fact that they were extremely big gossips. If you ever wanted gossip to stay hidden- never, ever, tell a Hufflepuff.

And the Gryffindors, you ask? James still hadn't figured that one out yet, after seven years of attending Hogwarts. He guessed it was because it was so much easier to judge the other houses rather than his own.

A flash of brown hair caught James's attention and he watched as Alison fidgeted nervously. He couldn't blame her for being nervous, as he'd been just as bad during his sorting. As James gave her an encouraging smile, he couldn't help but remember the talk he'd had with her the night before.

Alison hadn't been able to sleep and had come to James's room in the middle of the night, her usually smooth, pretty hair was rumpled and messy and she had a dressing grown around her. Accompanying her was a photo album and her teddy bear, both tucked under an opposite arm.

James had sleepily let her in and listened to her concerns while they flicked through the family photo albums. He'd become instantly awake when he realised that she needed her big brother more than anything.

His mother had been in Ravenclaw and his father, Gryffindor. Alison was worried that she wouldn't get in either of the houses.

James had gently stroked her hair while he comforted her. Eventually they both fell asleep, Alison feeling relieved and much better and James feeling bloody exhausted. He didn't mind it though, it was the least he could do for his little sister.

The sharp kick Sirius had sent his way told him that he'd missed all the sortings up to Alison, who was currently sitting on the stool. She was nervously gnawing on her lip as the hat was put on her head and covered her big eyes.

The hat did nothing for a long moment. Panic started to course through James as he chewed his lower lip. Alison had magic, she definitely did. The things that she'd accidentally done had been amazing and brilliant. James knew for a fact that he had a talented young witch on his hands.

James wasn't aware he'd been holding his breath till he heard the hat shout, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Alison let out a happy laugh that was halfway through a sob and came and sat between James and Rosie. Sirius ruffled the little girls' hair from across the table before returning his attention to the proceedings. Rosie began to speak with the small girl softly under her breath, laughter bubbling from both the girls easily. James kept trying to make them be quiet, knowing soon that Dumbledore or one of the teachers would look over and be fairly unhappy that a seventh year was already leading a firsty astray.

James caught Lily staring at him and he felt his stomach do a flip. It wasn't fair. Evans could look at him all she liked but he couldn't even give her a passing glance. And when she _did _stare at him, his stomach did gymnastics like crazy.

To keep himself distracted, he gave Ali a quick one armed hug, trying to forget how just by looking at him, Lily was making his mind whirl and his breath catch.

The sortings proceeded effortlessly, and just before the feast was about to appear, Dumbledore had Lily and James stand up. With his goblet raised to them and those eyes twinkling behind his half moon spectacles, Dumbledore proclaimed.  
"These two talented students are your Head Boy and Girl for the year. They'll represent you and will be happy to listen to any problems you have."

James beamed and waved easily while Lily smiled politely before sitting back down, leaving James standing there all by himself. He'd known since second year that Lily Evans did not like the spotlight, but that was uncalled for. He'd been in a momentary daze and hadn't sat as Lily had and he would have looked like an extreme git if he hadn't shouted effortlessly.

"LET'S ALL HAVE A GOOD YEAR, YOU HEAR ME?" He'd shouted to cover his momentary embarrassment. It was quick thinking and a whole lot of arrogance that made the comment sound so effortless. If his voice had trembled or shook, his credibility would've crashed right to the floor with it.

As he sat down, James suppressed a grin, more than half of the students whooping and cheering as the food finally made its long awaited appearance. As always, the food was amazing.

Hundreds of dishes of meat, vegetables and any sauce that could be imaged appeared. Jugs of water and pumpkin juice were dotted all along the table and soon the hall was filled with the usual sound of more than a hundred people indulging in a fantastic dinner and catching up after a long summer had gone by.

James caught Sirius's eye as his best mate was watching Rosie cheer the loudest- being loud had never been a problem for the farm girl-, before grinning crookedly at all the Marauders and her friends and digging into her food.

Throughout the whole of dinner, James was not once inclined to look over at Lily, although he could feel eyes on him for the majority, HE had no proof except his gut feeling that it'd been Lily.

As the dinner dishes were replaced with all kinds of sweets and puddings, James briefly caught Lily's eye, but she looked away. He shrugged it off as he spooned a good portion of food onto his plate.


End file.
